Leave a comment in the show blog to enter your name in the Week #3 Drawing for the Hummingbird Project Bag. The Hummingbird is everyone's favorite bird. Even non-birders love these little guys. And who doesn't need another project bag? These bags can be used for travel, too! Enter the promo code "piper" for Free Shipping through April 2011!

Nature Notes

American Master: John Muir in the New World is airing on PBS starting Monday April 18th. John Muir is one of my heroes and I have been looking forward to this 90 min documentary for weeks. April 21st is John Muir Day. He was born on April 21, 1838. Thank him when you visit a National Park. I recommend his written works, especially My Boyhood and Youth.

Mr. Pileated Woodpecker eating dinner on a log.

Off he goes!

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. --John Muir

Woolly Nylon Thread Source Thread Art Thank you, Cottontail! Economical and she uses it for both reinforcing and darning socks. Many colors to choose from and only $3 for a giant spool.

The Blethering Room

Charr and Bronwyn joined me in The Blethering Room to talk about what we learned at Camp KIP. Bronwyn's Little Guy, who is a precocious toddler, is in the background with his happy play sounds.

On the way to Camp we ate at Cowan's in Washington MO, home of Mile High Pie.

We stopped at Bah!Yarns in Washington MO. Beth has a lovely shop. She has a Ravelry Group, too. I am guessing she has been busy listening to podcasts this week. Hello, Beth!

We met our housemates, Saige and StevieBee. StevieBee knits miniature animals. She has a whole case of this little critters. Check out her designs on Ravelry. Stevie gave one of these little turtles to each of the Little Lodge Ladies.

Bronwyn finished her Esker Scarf by Jen May and started on Daybreak by Stephen West.
Charr worked on Slip Stitch Cable Socks from The Little Box of Socks by Charlene Schurch. She also started on the Schieffelin Point Shawl by Kate Gagnon Osborne which she is making in Chickadee from Quince & Co in the color Snap Pea.
I took my Norwegian Sweater along but did not work on it. I worked on my Eye of Partridge Socks and started a shawl Sugar is Sweet by Rose Beck. This is part the Be Mine Shawl Collection by Rose Beck and I will soon be reviewing the e-book on the show.

In our goodie bags were two patterns by the wonderful Knit Girllls. Their video podcast is terrific! Laura designed Little Bit Socks for the skein of sock yarn that TurtlePurl made for Camp KIP. Beautiful! Charr and I are going to make the socks. Leslie designed the Litmus Lace Shawl, a triangular shawl that will help you decide whether you like knitting shawls...like a litmus test. Remember high school chemistry? Laura is also called LaLa and is THE LaLa of LaLa's Simple Shawl which came up during our Garter Stitch Thread several months ago.

I am more eager than ever to knit the Radiance Shawl by Helen Stewart after seeing Mary wearing her lovely version. There are too many shawls to knit!

There is a Daybreak KAL (Knit Along) in the Camp KIP thread on Ravelry. If you are in the KAL and are new to the podcast you might want to listen to Episodes 30 and 31 for tips on knitting this fantastic shawl. My project notes are here with more here. Yes, I've knitted two Daybreaks, back to back.

Estelle KAL/Knit Along

On May 1 we will start our Estelle KAL. Next week I will talk about swatching for your project. It is time to order your Lark from Quince, get your needles ready, and buy the pattern. I'm so glad we have so many who are joining in. Welcome to those who have found us through Quince!

72 comments:

Hummingbirds are amazing. My first memory of them are from Capitol Reef National Park where I lived as a child. Now in the Pacific Northwest I love seeing them almost year round. They love it when the rosemary blooms.

Thanks for letting me blether on with you two! It's cute that you kept Grady's "radio" debut in the final cut. He walked into the room while I was listening just as we were all "stepping into the blethering room," and he got excited to hear familiar voices. I queued my DVR for the John Muir show. I love the idea of taking a photo of the same spot every day. A little bit of time-lapse photography is fun. I'm sure it will be much more interesting than the photos I took every week of my growing baby bump!

I'm included in the throng of hummingbird lovers. I love most birds anyway, but it's such a thrill to watch hummers. I think I posted on the Nature Notes thread a while back that my grandma had one try to land on her flowered shirt. They're just so fascinating.

I so enjoy listening to Knitting Pipeline every week. The only problem is, I have to keep pausing and checking patterns and links in the show notes while I'm listening! It's a good problem!!! I love being able to check your comments on the show notes.

Paula,Yours is my favorite knitting podcast. I love the items you include like nature notes, and the music as well as the knitting comments. Although I like the look of the Estelle sweater, I am not ready for a sweater yet, being a relatively new knitter. Am going to check our 3 bags full and John Muir day.Thank you, Paula.

I loved your take on Camp KIP. I couldn't go so it's wonderful hearing all about it. I got a goody bag so I'm (im)patiently waiting for that to arrive in the mail. P.S. I love hummingbirds!Lisa (ColoradoKid on rav)

Another wonderful episode, Paula. I appreciate everything from the sock reinforcement tips . . . to the television show tips . . . to the how to win a raffle tips!

It was fun to listen to Charr and Bronwyn, too. I like the way you concentrated on yarn, patterns, etc.

I am so excited about the upcoming KAL. I have my yarn from Quince & Co. -- I fell in love with the yarn when you showed it to me at camp. My color is Crocus because crocus are one of the favorite flowers in my spring garden.

Now all I have to do is sort through all my needles to see if I need to buy more. I'm not sure if I have the right length.

My husband is on awe of your woodpecker photos. They are around us by times but elusive to the camera. I thought you would be amused to hear that on some spring mornings here in our Nova Scotia woodland garden, we have to rush out of the house in the early mornings, clapping our hands and shouting to chase the northern flickers off our roof. Their drilling is deafening inside the house and their call is so close to the pileated's that we have often confused them.Other home owners chase cats or dogs from their gardens and we are trymg to save our roof from the Flicker!!

Hi Paula, I always look forward to your podcasts and have enjoyed each and every one! Thanks for the contests too! The hummingbird is my absolute favorite bird. I would love to win the project bag! Thanks again - Louise

Thanks for another great podcast! I love your woodpecker photos. I've never seen a Pileated in person, but have heard them in Wisconsin. I have Downies and Red-Bellied in my yard. I also just hung my hummingbird feeder here in Northern Illinois.

Thanks also for the heads up on the John Muir program. I will be sure to watch that one!

What a cute hummingbird bag! The little hummers in our area seem to enjoy rosemary and lavender when in bloom so we often catch site of them from the back yard.

I so enjoyed listening to the four of you chatting about Camp KIP. I must confess that I went a bit "fan girl" when my Radiance Shawl was mentioned. Thank you Paula, Charr and Bronwyn for being so sweet and welcoming. You three made my camp experience a very pleasant one.

Another great episode! I always enjoy your nature notes. I live near Vancouver, Canada and I find it interesting to see how your bird sightings compare with mine. I just spotted my first goldfinches of the season a few days ago, two males, who still haven't completely transitioned from their winter plumage (we are experiencing a late spring). I was excited to see a great horned owl late Tuesday afternoon. It flew into a stand of trees behind our house and sat there for at least an hour and a half (maybe longer--I had to go out). The crows were not happy but it resolutely ignored their squawking and fly-bys. I saw a hummingbird at my daughter's a couple of weeks ago but although I've put out my feeder I haven't seen one at my house yet.

I didn't wait for Estelle KAL to begin--I immediately bought the pattern after hearing about it on a past episode and cast it on in some Cascade 220 I had in the stash. I just finished the waist ribbing. Thanks to your enabling I also bought some yarn from Quince and Co. to make some socks and can't wait to receive it.

I love your new logo! And, of course, look forward to your podcast every week. I live in northern Illinois and have had a native garden for 6-7 years; last year was the first time I saw a hummingbird in person! A red ivy/trailing geramiun hanging basket right off the kitchen sliding door did the trick.

I could have listened for hours to you discussingCamp KIP! I am going to make nectar for my hummingbird feeders today. FYI, you don't want to put redfood coloring in it, just boil 4 parts water to 1 part granulated sugar. Another great podcast andgiveaway. Thanks

Hi Paula,I think Nature Notes is my favourite part of the podcast but I enjoy everything else too. Aren't pileated woodpeckers positively prehistoric looking? We have had one sighting in our backyard in Victoria, BC but we are more likely to see the little hairy woodpecker and have had a flicker resident at our suet feeder all winter. They are such handsome birds. We keep a hummingbird feeder going all winter for the Anna's which are resident year round and have their young very early in the year. One year a female built her adorable little nest right outside the dining room window giving us a front row seat as she fed her bumblebee sized babies. I could write an essay on frogs but will save that for another time. Regards, DeniseRevelry name: ninidoo

I really enjoyed the Blethering Room on this podcast. It sounded like the three of you had so much fun at the retreat. By-the-way, that "fog" that we all played in was DDT. Sigh! We used to pretend that we were in London in the fog and tried to hide from others in the fog. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid.

Those pictures are fantastic! Love the woodpeckers and the John Muir piece. He certainly was instrumental in what we have today in our parks and wilderness areas. I hope to have some hummingbirds in my backyard this year. By the way, I got susan's address from her and sent our camp kip postcards. Until next year!

I love hummingbirds, but we don't have them here in Italy. I love to vacation in northern Michigan where there are loads of them. I've been lucky enough to see a pileated woodpecker or two there, too. I always look forward to hearing your Nature Notes.

Enjoyed this episode as I do each week. I am not a big nature person, but you are getting me interested. I'd like to read the John Muir biography you mentioned. Also loved your Camp stories. I wish I could have gone! Maybe in the future...

Blast! I'm totally bummed that I didn't get my entry in for the little froggy bag because it was SO cute, BUT I saw my first hummingbird outside my window just yesterday so this cute little hummer bag makes me so super happy!! Paula, you are fabulous and thank you so much Three Bags Full for the donations of the bags!!

Hi, thanks for an other episode of knitting pipeline. I wait for you podcasts. I´m going to take part in your knitalong. I´ve bought the pattern and I´m using a yarn from my stash. I visited also your shop and you have wonderful things there.

What beautiful bags - peepers and hummers, both. I just returned from a long walk up in Wisconsin. My footsteps ended the song of all smaller frogs, but one deep croaker sounded very aggressive - the only one who continued sounding out in the three ponds I passed. Wonder how large he is!?!

Great episode. How I wished I could have gone to Camp Kip. I, like others love hummingbirds. We have planted some flowers and my husband sets out the feeders every spring. We seem to see them towards the end of summer more often here in NJ. We float in our pool and watch them. We only seem to get around 3, but all the same I am mesmerized by them. We love to win one of those bags!

Paula, Thank you so much for your great podcast. Your calming voice and your talks about nature are just wonderful to listen to. I enjoy watching nature, too, but I'm not as knowledgable about it as you are. I teach and love to point out what's happening in nature to my students. April 21st may be John Muir's birthday, but it also mine. (I think that means I get the hummingbird bag!) All through school we would get April 21st off because it was the day Texas won independence from Mexico. There's a monument near Houston commemorating the day. Because of that I always thought my birthday was pretty special! Thanks again for the podcast.

I have seen some pictures and videos of feeding hummingbirds by hand and I plan on trying this summer. Currently, even though there is snow expected today, I know spring is coming because I have now spent 2 days watching a nice Tom turkey try to woo a female. Unfortunately, she has a hurt leg, and I am not sure they have gotten together. Just when one thinks he can't puff up any bigger, he does, and his head becomes a bright sky blue, and his wattle a deep red. It is an amazing sight to see in suburbia just outside the windows, sometimes less than 20 feet away! Nature is so healing! LP Starr

Another great podcast. It was fun having visitors to share their thoughts on Camp KIP. I am so glad I got to meet all 3 of you! Love your Nature notes on woodpeckers & hummingbirds and your pictures. Great tips on reenforcing socks. You share so many wonderful tips, you should compile them into a book (more work for you as if you don't do enough already)! Thank you so much for the podcast & wonderful notes.

It's my first time listening to your podcast and I'm hooked now! Thanks for this :)I'm from France and we don't have hummingbirds there... I delightful discovered them when I moved to the US, they are so magic!

Another wonderful podcast. As a fellow Camp KIP camper, I loved hearing the three of you discuss all of the beautiful knitwear at camp. I really enjoyed sharing your porch on Friday morning.

I had no idea how large Pilleated Woodpeckers are. Your photos were amazing.

I had planned to record the John Muir documentary last night, but alas that didn't happen. I will keep my eyes open for a rebroadcast. I really enjoyed the John James Audobon documentary you recommended in a previous podcast.

As usual, enjoyed every moment of this week's Podcast. And the show notes - thank you Paula - they must be a lot of work and I think you said you even devoted time at Camp KIP to podcasting/show note skills. Appreciate you, as we say in the South!

I just love the hummingbirds but have had zero luck with getting them to drink the nectar provided. I think that we are too hot for them to stick around for long. However, I have seen them in the cooler mornings. I just love listening to you Paula, your show is full of fun information, thoughts and wisdom.

This was such a wonderful episode. I saw a lovely woodpecker at CampKIP right near the main building. I took a photo - but it's hard to spot the bird. I heard him from the tennis court area and had a lot of fun hunting him down while most people were in yoga. Hummingbirds were plentiful at my Grandma's farm. She also had one of those funny little hummingbird toys - the ones that rock up and down to "drink" from a glass and we were charmed by it as kids.

I absolutely agree with you that hummingbirds are everyone's favorite bird! We're lucky to have several who come to the camellias just on the other side of my desk window. We also have woodpeckers who visit the palm trees, but I'm not sure what sort they are.

Thank you for another wonderful episode, I look forward to your podcasts each week!

Hi Paula!Thank you for another wonderful podcast and a chance to win a really nice project bag. I live hummingbirds and feed them regularly throughout the spring and summer. Last week I cleaned out our garage and set aside the feeders so I should be good to go once it warms up here in Wisconsin. We just got 6 inches of snow yesterday so I am so ready for spring and ready to see hummingbirds.

Hi Paula,I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your podcast. I listen to you as I drive to school. I am a high school choir director. I also am an avid bird watcher. I am always looking out for birds as I drive (don't worry, I encounter very few cars!). I have seen most recently, bluebirds, a Barred Owl, Red headed woodpeckers and Meadowlarks (my favorite songster) This February, I dodged Prarie Horned Larks on the road. My favorite sighting was 2 Springs ago, Sandhill Cranes! I stopped and turned my car around for those beauties. Thanks again for the Podcast,Mary from Fairland

Your podcast made me reflect on the wildlife changes I have seen in my area over the last 15 years. We have wild turkeys now in Oakland as of this year. Neighbors have reported sightings of foxes (I guess to go along with the turkeys) in the last several months. Many more deer too. And regular sightings of mountain lions in surrounding foothills although I haven't seen one...and can live without that. (probably to go with the increased deer population). I actually talk out loud as I take out trash at night to avoid an animal surprise! I no longer feed wild birds, so it's hard to comment on that although I always have an eye out for a unique spotting. There is a urban move out for sustainability in my area...2 adjoining properties (yes in the city) have chickens and the another property has a front yard that is a garden.

The contest is closed as of Thursday afternoon but feel free to leave comments. There is a contest for Week #4 that starts on the blog post for Episode 41...Friday April 22, 2011. Thanks for all your wonderful feedback!

Thank you so much for recommending the John Muir PBS show. I did not realize how religious he was and enjoyed his comments on nature. I was able to download many of his books onto my Kindle. I look forward to reading them. When I was growing up, we went camping every summer. I really enjoyed all the National Parks we visited. Also, I love hearing about the birds and other visitors in your back yard. thanks